Method and apparatus for extending license of content in portable device

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for extending a license of a content in a portable multimedia device includes receiving an instruction to extend the license, analyzing the received instruction for type of an extension of the license, and updating the data for controlling use of the content, which is included in the license, and payment data regarding payment for the extension of the license, based on the analysis, so that the license of the content can be extended in the portable multimedia device without the portable multimedia device having to be connected to an external device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 fromKorean Patent Application No. 2007-71288, filed on Jul. 16, 2007, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method andapparatus for extending a license of a content, the license referring todata for controlling use of the content, and more particularly, to amethod and apparatus for extending a license of a content in a portablemultimedia device.

2. Description of the Related Art

A portable multimedia device can play back a content protected bydigital rights management (DRM) technologies while a license of thecontent is valid. Once the license of the content expires, however, thecontent can no longer be played back. Thus, if a user wants to extendthe license of the content, the user is required to connect the portablemultimedia device to an apparatus, such as a personal computer (PC), toextend the license of the content. If the license of the content is notextended, the content still remains within the portable multimediadevice but cannot be played back.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a typical method of extending alicense of a content. Referring to FIG. 1, described below will be aprocedure for extending a license of a content that has been downloadedfrom a PC 120 by a portable multimedia device 110 in the case where thelicense of the content has already expired.

First, the PC 120 downloads a content protected by DRM technologies froma server 130. Next, the PC 120 transmits the downloaded content to theportable multimedia device 110. At this point, the PC also transmits alicense of the content to the portable multimedia device 110. Thelicense refers to data for controlling use of the content, and thelicense is stored in a region of the portable multimedia device 110which a user cannot access. Finally, the user presses a “Play” button toplay back the content stored in the portable multimedia device 110.

Based on the license, the portable multimedia device 110 determineswhether a term (or a time period) of a validity of the content or apermitted number of playbacks of the content has expired, and plays backthe content only if either the term of the validity or the permittednumber of playbacks of the content has not expired or has been exceeded.

As described above, the content can be played back only if the licenseof the content is still valid. For example, the downloaded content maybe played back for 3 months after the download, may be played back 100times after the download, or may be played back until a particular date,such as Jun. 30, 2007. If the portable multimedia device 100 judges thatthe license of the content has expired, that is, if the portablemultimedia device 100 determines that the term of the validity or thepermitted number of playbacks of the content is exceeded, for example,the license needs to be extended to continue to play back the content.

A user connects the portable multimedia device 110 to the PC 120 andextends the license by using a computer program installed in the PC 120.For example, the user can extend the license stored in the portablemultimedia device 110 by connecting the PC 120 to the server 130 byusing the computer program installed in the PC 120, extending thelicense, and transmitting the extended license from the PC 120 to theportable multimedia device 110.

As described above, it is typically troublesome to extend a license of acontent stored in the portable multimedia device 110 because, every timethe license needs to be extended, the portable multimedia device 110needs to be connected to the PC 120 so as to execute the computerprogram installed in the PC 120.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method andapparatus for extending a license of a content in a portable multimediadevice without being connected to an external device or a server.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, there is amethod of extending a license of a content in a portable multimediadevice using payment data, the license comprising data for controllinguse of the content and the payment data comprising data for purchasingan extension of the license, the license and the payment data beingstored in the portable multimedia device, the method including receivingan instruction to extend the license analyzing the received instructionfor how the license is to be extended, and updating the data forcontrolling use of the content and the payment data regarding to paymentfor the extension of the license based on the analysis of the receivedinstruction so as to extend the license.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the methodmay further include synchronizing the updated data for controlling useof the content and the payment data with another data for controllinguse of the content and the payment data stored in a data managingapparatus that manages the license and the payment data.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the methodmay further comprise transmitting the updated data for controlling useof the content and the updated payment data to a server that administersthe license and the payment data.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the paymentdata may be money data indicating a total balance of deposited moneythat can be used to extend the license, and the update of the data forcontrolling use of the content and the payment data may extend either aterm of a validity of the license or increase a permitted number ofplaybacks under the license of the content and deduct a predeterminedamount of money from the money data that corresponds to the extendedterm of the validity or the increased permitted number of playbacks.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the methodmay further include displaying a message inquiring a user whether toextend the license, wherein the instruction to extend the license isreceived in response to the displayed message.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the displayof the message may further include receiving a signal for selecting aparticular content, and determining whether a license of the contentselected based on the signal has expired, wherein the message is onlydisplayed when the license has expired.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, a messagedisplaying the payment data and extendable term of the license, wherethe term is calculated based on an available balance of the paymentdata, may further be displayed in the display of the message.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, a messagedisplaying results of updating the license and the payment data mayfurther be displayed.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the datamanaging apparatus may store a second license and a second payment data,which are the license and the payment data prior to the update in theportable multimedia device, and which are updated by extending thelicense or depositing payment via the data managing apparatus, and thesynchronization of the updated data may further include transmitting theupdated license and payment data to the data managing apparatus,receiving a third license and a third payment data, generated using theresult of comparing the updated license and the updated payment data tothe updated second license and the updated second payment data, andreplacing the updated license and payment data in the portablemultimedia device with the third license and the third payment data.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the licensemanaging apparatus may manage the updated license and the payment datain synchronization with the server administering the license and thepayment data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a licenseextending apparatus includes a receiving unit to receive an instructionto extend a license of content, an analyzing unit to analyze thereceived instruction, and a data updating unit to update data forcontrolling use of the content, which is included in the license, andpayment data indicating the total balance of deposited money that can beused to extend the license.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the licenseextending apparatus may further include a data synchronizing unit tosynchronize the updated data for controlling use of the content and thepayment data with data for controlling use of the content and thepayment data stored in a data managing apparatus for managing thelicense and the payment data.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the licenseextending apparatus may further include a displaying unit to display amessage inquiring a user whether to extend the license, wherein theinstruction is received in response to the displayed message.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the licenseextending apparatus may further include a determination unit todetermine whether a license of a particular content has expired, whereinthe determination unit determines whether a license of the particularcontent has expired when the receiving unit receives a signal forselecting the content, and the displaying unit selectively displays themessage based on the determination.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the licensemanaging apparatus may store a second license and a second payment data,which are the license and the payment data prior to the update, and thedata synchronizing unit may include a data transmitting unit to transmitthe updated license and payment data to the data managing apparatus, adata receiving unit to receive a third license and a third payment data,generated using the result of comparing the updated license and theupdated payment data to an updated second license and an updated secondpayment data, and a data renewing unit to replace the license and thepayment data in the portable multimedia device with the third licenseand the third payment data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is acomputer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computerprogram instructions for executing the method including receiving aninstruction instructing to extend the license, analyzing the receivedinstruction, and updating the data for controlling use of the content,which is included in the license, and payment data regarding to paymentfor the extension of the license, based on the analysis.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, there is amethod of extending a license to allow reproduction of a content storedin a portable multimedia device using a license extender in the portablemultimedia device, the license extender containing the license and abalance information, the method including: receiving an instruction toextend the license; determining how the license is to be extended and acost of an extension of the license based on the received instruction;extending the license based on the received instruction; and updatingthe license and balance information of the license extender according toextension of the license and the cost of the extension of the license.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, there is aportable multimedia device to reproduce a content based on a license toallow reproduction of the content, the portable multimedia deviceincluding: a memory to store the content; a license extender containingthe license and a balance information, and to extend the license byreceiving an instruction to extend the license, determining how thelicense is to be extended and a cost of an extension of the licensebased on the received instruction, extending the license based on thereceived instruction, and updating the license and balance informationof the license extender according to extension of the license and thecost of the extension of the license.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, there is amethod of extending a license of a content in a portable multimediadevice without the portable multimedia device having to be connected toan external device that extends the license, the method including:receiving an instruction to extend the license; analyzing the receivedinstruction for how the license is to be extended; and updating thelicense and a payment data regarding payment for the extension of thelicense based on the analysis of the received instruction so as toextend the license.

In addition to the example embodiments and aspects as described above,further aspects and embodiments will be apparent by reference to thedrawings and by study of the following descriptions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description of example embodiments and theclaims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, allforming a part of the disclosure of this invention. While the followingwritten and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing exampleembodiments of the invention, it should be clearly understood that thesame is by way of illustration and example only and that the inventionis not limited thereto. The spirit and scope of the present inventionare limited only by the terms of the appended claims. The followingrepresents brief descriptions of the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a typical method of extending alicense of content;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a license extending apparatus in a portablemultimedia device according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a data synchronizing unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a license extending apparatus in a portablemultimedia device, according to another example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of extending a license of a content ina portable multimedia device, according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an application of the method of extending alicense of a content according to another example embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a license extending apparatus 200 in aportable multimedia device according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the license extending apparatus200 includes a receiving unit 210, an instruction analyzing unit 220, adata updating unit 230, and a data synchronizing unit 240. Forconvenience of explanation, a license managing apparatus 250 is furthershown in FIG. 2, though the license managing apparatus 250 is not partof the license extending apparatus 200 in this example embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the receiving unit 210 receives an instruction toextend (or renew) a license of a content. The instruction can bereceived by the receiving unit 210 when a user presses a predeterminedbutton, for example, on the portable multimedia device. For example,when a message queries the user whether to extend the license of thecontent, such as by displaying a “Do you wish to extend this license?”message, or “Do you wish to extend the license of this content?”message, the user can instruct to extend the license by pressing a“Confirm” button in response to the message. According to exampleembodiments of the present invention, the user not only can confirm anextension of the license, but also can designate the term of the licenseor the permitted number of playbacks (i.e., reproductions, or uses), forexample. In other example embodiments, other characteristics of thelicense may be designated, such as an identity of a device that can playback or reproduce the content.

As shown in FIG. 2, the instruction analyzing unit 220 analyzes aninstruction received by the receiving unit 210. For example, theinstruction analyzing unit 220 analyzes how the license of content is tobe extended. That is, the instruction analyzing unit 220 determines theextended term of the license or the updated permitted number ofplaybacks of the content, for example. In example embodiments of thepresent invention, the license extending apparatus 200 may furtherinclude a displaying unit (not shown) to display messages, such as thosediscussed above, as well as information of the content and the license.Based on the analysis by the instruction analyzing unit 220, the dataupdating unit 230 updates a license data, where the data is included inthe license of the content, and updates a payment data regarding paymentfor the extension of the license.

The payment data includes money data showing a total balance of moneythat may be used to extend the license, point data showing a totalbalance of points, or other non-monetary units that may be used toextend the license, and all other data which may be modified or updatedin correspondence to the extension of the license. In exampleembodiments of the present invention, non-monetary units may includeairline mileage, loyalty points, and/or virtual currency.

For convenience of explanation, hereinafter, the payment data is assumedto be money data, but it should be understood that the non-monetaryunits are within the scope of the invention. Further for sake ofexample, currency unit used herein is the Korean won, but it should beunderstood that any currency unit is also within the scope of theinvention.

Again referring to FIG. 2, the data updating unit 230 may update thelicense by extending either the term of the validity or securingadditional permitted number of playbacks of the content, and deducting aset amount of money from an available balance of the money data. Forexample, when 5,000 Korean won is the available balance of or depositedmoney data and the content is set to be valid until Jul. 30, 2007, andif an instruction to extend the license of the content for another 3months beyond the initial expiration date is received, then the dataupdating unit 230 updates the license so that the content would be validuntil Sep. 30, 2007 and stores 2,000 Korean won as the balance of themoney data after deducting 3,000 Korean won from the money data as theprice for the 3 month extension of the license. The data updating unit230 updates the license and the money data even when the licenseextending apparatus 200 is not connected to the license managingapparatus 250 for managing the license and the money data. In exampleembodiments, the license may be extended even without an availablebalance, and may be extended based on credit or some other paymentinformation, such as credit card information.

Examples of the license managing apparatus 250 include all devicescapable of relaying data between the license extending apparatus 200 anda server and capable of managing the license and the money data, such asa personal computer (PC), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptopcomputer, etc. Thus, based on available balance, or credit, the licensecan be updated immediately, with reconciliation or settling of theaccounts to be performed later via a connection to the license managingapparatus 250. In example embodiments of the present invention, aconnection between the license extending apparatus 200 and the licensemanaging apparatus 250 may be by way of a cable or other wiredconnections, as well as by wireless connections.

As described above, the license extending apparatus 200 according to anexample embodiment of the present invention can extend the license ofthe content even when the license extending apparatus 200 is notconnected to the license managing apparatus 250, and thus avoids thetrouble of connecting the license extending apparatus 200 to the licensemanaging apparatus 250 every time the license needs to be extended.

Again referring to FIG. 2, the data synchronizing unit 240 synchronizesthe license and the money data updated by the data updating unit 230with the license and the money data stored in the license managingapparatus 250. Accordingly, in example embodiments of the presentinvention, the license and the money data of the data updating unit 230is reconciled with the license and the money data of the licensemanaging apparatus 250 via the data synchronizing unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the data synchronizing unit 240. Referringto FIG. 3, the data synchronizing unit 240 includes a data transmittingunit 242, a data receiving unit 244, and a data renewing unit 246. Also,the license managing apparatus 250 stores a license and the money datarespectively corresponding (though not necessarily synchronized) to thelicense and the money data stored in the license extending apparatus 200as will be explained below.

For purposes of discussion, it is assumed that the license and the moneydata stored in the license extending apparatus 200 and the license andthe money data stored in the license managing apparatus 250 areidentical when the license extending apparatus 200 and the licensemanaging apparatus 250 are connected initially, and prior to anyextension of a purchased license or any additional deposits to increasethe balance of the money data. For example, if a user had purchased aright to use a content for 3 months via the license managing apparatus250 and a balance of money data after the purchase was 5,000 Korean won,the license stored in both the license extending apparatus 200 and thelicense managing apparatus 250 became valid for 3 months from a date ofthe purchase, and the balances of the money data stored in both thelicense extending apparatus 200 and the license managing apparatus 250became 5,000 Korean won.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the license and the moneydata stored in the license extending apparatus 200 are respectivelyreferred to as a first license and first money data, while the licenseand the money data stored in the license managing apparatus 250 arerespectively referred as the second license and the second money data inthe following descriptions of the data transmitting unit 242, the datareceiving unit 244, and the data renewing unit 246.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, after the purchase of the content, andwhen the license is extended, the data updating unit 230 updates thefirst license and the first money data, the data transmitting unit 242of the data synchronizing unit 240 transmits the updated first licenseand the updated first money data to the license managing apparatus 250.The license managing apparatus 250 then generates a third license andthird money data using a result of comparing the updated first licenseand the updated first money data (from the license extending apparatus200) to the second license and the second money data (of the licensemanaging apparatus 250), and transmits the generated third license andthe generated third money data to the data receiving unit 244. Asdiscussed, the generated third license and the generated third moneydata is a most up to date data on the license and the money data.

For example, assuming that the term of the validity of content is set toexpire on Jun. 30, 2007 in both the first and the second license whilethe balances of both the first and the second money data are each 5,000Korean won, after a purchase, if the license extending apparatus 200extends the term of the validity of the content of the first license foranother 3 months and the cost of extending the first license for the 3months is 2,000 Korean won, the term of the validity of the content inthe first license is updated to expire on Sep. 30, 2007 but the balanceof the first money data then becomes 3,000 Korean won so that the firstlicense and the first money data are updated. Meanwhile, if 5,000 Koreanwon are further deposited via the license managing device 250, the termof the validity of the content in the second license is unchanged fromJun. 30, 2007, but the balance of the second money data becomes 10,000Korean won so that the second money data is updated.

Then, when the license extending apparatus 200 and the license managingapparatus 250 are connected and when the third license and the thirdmoney data are generated using the result of comparing the updated firstlicense and the updated first money data to the second license and theupdated second money data, the term of the validity of the content inthe third license is set to expire on Sep. 30, 2007 since the term ofthe validity of the content is extended in the first license, and also,the balance of the third money data becomes 8,000 Korean won since 2,000Korean won have been deducted from the first money data but 5,000 Koreanwon was added to the second money data. In other words, the thirdlicense and the third money data are respectively generated in view ofthe changes in the first and second licenses, and the first and secondmoney data.

The license managing apparatus 250 then transmits the generated thirdlicense and the third money data to the data transmitting unit 244. Asdiscussed above, the license extending apparatus 200 needs to beconnected to the license managing apparatus 250 in order to perform datasynchronization between the license extending apparatus 220 and thelicense managing apparatus 250. However, in the meantime, a license isextended immediately by using the license extending apparatus 200. Inother words, the license extending apparatus 200 according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention is more convenient for a userbecause the license extending apparatus 200 needs to be connected to thelicense managing apparatus 250 only when performing the synchronization,and the license extending apparatus 200 does not have to be connected tothe license managing apparatus 250 every time the license of the contentneeds to be extended.

Meanwhile, the license managing apparatus 250 manages the license andthe money data in synchronization with a server (not shown) that alsomanages the license and the money data. In other words, the licensemanaging apparatus 250 stores the third license and the third money dataand transmits the third license and the third money data to the serverso that the third license and the third money data can be reflected inthe server. The license managing apparatus 250 is not in the server, butis located in the PC or an intermediary device that is between theportable multimedia device and the server in this example embodiment.Additionally, the license extending apparatus 200 is located in acontent reproducing device, such as the portable multimedia device inthis example embodiment.

Referring back to FIG. 3, the data renewing unit 246 replaces the firstlicense and the first money data in the license extending apparatus 200with the third license and the third money data. Consequently, the thirdlicense and the third money data is used to update the first license andthe first money data in the license extending apparatus 200, and toupdate the second license and the second money data in the licensemanaging apparatus 250 after the synchronization is performed.

For example, when the term of the validity of the content expires onJun. 30, 2007 in the first license and the balance of the first moneydata is 5,000 Korean won, and if the term of the validity of the contentexpires on Sep. 30, 2007 in the third license and the balance of thethird money data is 8,000 Korean won, the data renewing unit 246 renewsor updates the first license and the first money data such that the termof the validity of the content expires on Sep. 30, 2007 and the balanceof the first money data is 8,000 Korean won. Accordingly, the licenseextending apparatus 200 synchronizes the license and the money data (thefirst license and the first money data) stored in the license extendingapparatus 200 with the license and the money data (the third license andthe third money data) stored in the license managing apparatus 250.

While the description above has been given in regard to money data forconvenience of explanation, the present invention is not limitedthereto, and the money data may be replaced by any payment dataincluding money data, point data, or any data which can be modified incorrespondence to securing or extending a license. In other exampleembodiments, the license extending apparatus 200 can also be connecteddirectly to the server without being connected via the license managingapparatus 250.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a license extending apparatus 410 in aportable multimedia device, according to another example embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the license extendingapparatus 410 can be connected directly to a server 420 without alicense managing apparatus 250 as shown in FIG. 2 (such as a PC). Inother words, the license extending apparatus 410 shown in FIG. 4 alsofunctions as a data managing apparatus, and it is possible to eitherpurchase a content from the server 420 or deposit money directly theretoby using the license extending apparatus 410. Hereinafter, a licenseextending apparatus with function of the data managing apparatus isreferred to as a license managing apparatus.

The license extending apparatus 410 shown in FIG. 4 includes a receivingunit 412, an instruction analyzing unit 414, a data updating unit 416,and a data transmitting unit 418. Operations performed by the receivingunit 412, the instruction analyzing unit 414, and the data updating unit416 are respectively the same as those of the receiving unit 210, theinstruction analyzing unit 220, and the data updating unit 230 shown inFIG. 2, except that the receiving unit 412 shown in FIG. 4 can receive acontent directly from a server 420, unlike the receiving unit 210. Thus,similar descriptions of the receiving unit 412, the instructionanalyzing unit 414, and the data updating unit 416 are not repeatedbelow. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the data transmittingunit 418 transmits license and money data updated by the data updatingunit 416 to the server 420.

While purchasing a content and depositing of money can be done with thelicense managing apparatus 250 in the example embodiment of FIG. 2, boththe purchasing of the content and the depositing of money can also bedone with the license extending apparatus 410 in the example embodimentof FIG. 4. Thus, license and money data in the license extendingapparatus 410 and license and money data in the server 420 can besynchronized by simply transmitting an updated license and an updatedmoney data from the license extending apparatus 410 to the server 420.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of extending a license of a content ina portable multimedia device, according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention. In operation 510, an instruction to extend a licenseof a content is received. In operation 520, the received instruction isanalyzed for how the license is to be extended.

In operation 530, the license and payment data are updated based on theanalysis, wherein the update is performed without a license extendingapparatus in a portable multimedia device having to be connected to adata managing apparatus. In operation 540, the updated license andpayment data are synchronized with license and payment or money data inthe data managing apparatus. The synchronization of the license andpayment or money data is performed only when the license extendingapparatus is connected to the data managing extending apparatusaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention. Also, whenthe license extending apparatus also functions as the data managingapparatus, and is referred to as a license managing apparatus, thesynchronization is performed only when the license managing apparatus isconnected to a server according to another example embodiment of thepresent invention.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the updated license andpayment or money data in the license extending apparatus are made tocorrespond to the license and the payment or money data in the server bysimply transmitting the updated license and the payment or money data tothe server, so that synchronization of data in the license extendingapparatus and the server is completed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an application of the method of extending alicense of a content according to another embodiment of the presentinvention. In operation 610, a signal to select a particular content isreceived. In operation 620, it is determined whether a license of theselected content has expired. A license extending apparatus according toan example embodiment of the present invention may further include adetermination unit (not shown) to determine whether a license of acontent has expired when a receiving unit receives a signal selectingthe particular content, but such is not required, as the determinationcan simply be performed by the license extending apparatus.

In operation 630, if the determination unit determines that the licensehas expired, a message asking whether a user will extend the license isdisplayed. A message showing money data, and an extendable licenseperiod calculated by using a balance of the money data, may further bedisplayed at the same time. For example, a message such as “Currentbalance of your account is 5,000 Korean won, and you can extend thislicense for up to 6 months by using the balance. Do you wish to extendthis license?” may be displayed.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, operation 610and/or the operation 630 may be omitted. In other words, if aninstruction to extend a license is received even while the license hasnot yet expired, the extension of the license may be carried out tosimply extend or add to the existing license. In another exampleembodiment, the player may be optionally set to automatically extend thelicense if a balance is available to do so until the balance isexhausted.

Referring back to FIG. 6, in operation 640, if an instruction to extendthe license is received, the instruction is analyzed for how the licenseis to be extended. In operation 650, either the term of a validity ofthe content or a permitted number of playbacks included in the licenseis extended or increased based on the analysis, and a particular amountof money is deducted from the balance of the money data. In operation660, a message indicating updated results of the license and the moneydata is displayed. For example, a message such as “The license of thiscontent is extended to Dec. 31, 2007, and your current balance is 1,000Korean won.” may be displayed. In operation 670, the updated license andthe updated money data are synchronized with a license and a money datain a license extending apparatus or a license managing apparatus.

Also, as described above, the updated license and the updated money datamay be synchronized directly with the license and the money data in aserver if the license extending apparatus can be connected directly tothe server without the data managing apparatus to act as anintermediary, for example, as when a license managing apparatus is used.

In example embodiments of the present invention, a content refers to anyaudio data, such as songs, albums, or performances, for example, butalso to any non-audio data that is reproducible, such as text, programs,menus, images and/or video, for example. Such non-audio data may bereproduced in conjunction with the audio data. The content may be adigital media file or may be streaming audio and/or multimedia data.

In example embodiments of the present invention, in addition toextending the licenses, the above method may apply to when a license isfirst obtained or purchased.

The license extending or the license managing functions need not beperformed by an apparatus, and may be computer programs that aredownloaded onto the portable multimedia device or may be device specificapplications. If downloaded, the program may be downloaded when a useror an owner of the device first signs up to use the content providingservice, such as a music downloading service.

Example embodiments of the present invention can be implemented insoftware or hardware, such as, for example, a field programmable gatearray (FPGA), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Assuch, it is intended that the processes described herein be broadlyinterpreted as being equivalently performed by software, hardware, or acombination thereof.

In example embodiments, in addition to determining a validity of thelicense, authenticating a license is also within scope of the presentinvention.

In example embodiments, the license extending apparatus or the licensemanaging apparatus may be located in a portable multimedia device sincethe portable multimedia device is able to reproduce the content based ona valid license.

In example embodiments, the license extending apparatus may be locatedwithin a content reproducing device, such as the portable multimediadevice, but may also be in a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, aportable computer, or other small electronic devices capable ofreproducing the content.

In various aspects, and/or refers to alternatives chosen from availableelements so as to include one or more of the elements. For example, ifthe elements available include elements X, Y, and Z, and/or refers to X,Y, Z, or any combination thereof.

The example embodiments of the present invention may also be written ascomputer programs and can be implemented in general-use digitalcomputers that execute the programs using a computer readable recordingmedium. Examples of the computer readable recording medium includemagnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.),optical recording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs), and storage media.Also, aspects of the invention may also be embodied in computer-readablecode embodied as a computer data signal in a carrier wave (e.g.,transmission through the Internet).

While there have been illustrated and described what are considered tobe example embodiments of the present invention, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art and as technology develops that variouschanges and modifications, may be made, and equivalents may besubstituted for elements thereof without departing from the true scopeof the present invention. Many modifications, permutations, additionsand sub-combinations may be made to adapt the teachings of the presentinvention to a particular situation without departing from the scopethereof. Accordingly, it is intended, therefore, that the presentinvention not be limited to the various example embodiments disclosed,but that the present invention includes all embodiments falling withinthe scope of the appended claims.

1. A method of extending a license of a content in a portable multimediadevice using payment data, the license comprising data for controllinguse of the content and the payment data comprising data for purchasingan extension of the license, the license and the payment data beingstored in the portable multimedia device, the method comprising:receiving an instruction to extend the license; analyzing the receivedinstruction for how the license is to be extended; and updating the datafor controlling use of the content and the payment data regardingpayment for the extension of the license based on the analysis of thereceived instruction so as to extend the license.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising synchronizing the updated data for controlling useof the content and the payment data with another data for controllinguse of the content and the payment data stored in a data managingapparatus that manages the license and the payment data.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising transmitting the updated data forcontrolling use of the content and the updated payment data to a serverthat administers the license and the payment data.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the payment data is money data indicating a totalbalance of deposited money that can be used to extend the license, andthe updating of the data for controlling use of the content and thepayment data extends either a term of a validity of the license orincreases a permitted number of playbacks under the license of thecontent and deducts a predetermined amount of money from the money datathat corresponds to the extended term of the validity or the increasedpermitted number of playbacks.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising displaying a message inquiring a user whether to extend thelicense, wherein the instruction to extend the license is received inresponse to the displayed message.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thedisplaying of the message further comprises: receiving a signal forselecting a particular content; and determining whether a license of thecontent selected based on the signal has expired, wherein the message isonly displayed when the license has expired.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein the displaying of the message further comprises a messagedisplaying the payment data and an extendable term of the license, wherethe term is calculated based on an available balance of the paymentdata.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating of the data forcontrolling use of the content and the payment data further comprisesdisplaying a message displaying results of the updating of the licenseand the payment data.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the datamanaging apparatus stores a second license and second payment data,which are the license and the payment data prior to the update in theportable multimedia device, and which are updated by extending thelicense or depositing payment via the data managing apparatus, and thesynchronizing of the updated data further comprises: transmitting theupdated license and payment data to the data managing apparatus;receiving a third license and a third payment data, generated using theresult of comparing the updated license and the updated payment data tothe updated second license and the updated second payment data; andreplacing the updated license and payment data in the portablemultimedia device with the third license and the third payment data. 10.The method of claim 2, wherein the data managing apparatus manages theupdated license and the payment data in synchronization with a serveradministering the licenses and the payment data.
 11. A license extendingapparatus in a portable multimedia device to extend a license comprisingdata for controlling use of a content using payment data, the apparatuscomprising: a receiving unit to receive an instruction to extend thelicense of the content; an analyzing unit to analyze the receivedinstruction for how the license is to be extended; and a data updatingunit to update the data for controlling use of the content and thepayment data indicating a total balance of deposited money that can beused to extend the license based on the received instruction so as toextend the license.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising adata synchronizing unit to synchronize the updated data for controllinguse of the content and the payment data with another data forcontrolling use of the content and the payment data stored in a datamanaging apparatus that manages the license and the payment data. 13.The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a data transmitting unitto transmit the updated data for controlling use of the content and theupdated payment data to a server that administers the license and thepayment data,
 14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the data updatingunit updates the data for controlling use of the content and the paymentdata by extending either a term of a validity of the license orincreasing a permitted number of playbacks under the license of thecontent and deducting a predetermined amount of money from the moneydata that corresponds to the extended term of the validity or theincreased permitted number of playbacks.
 15. The apparatus of claim 11,further comprising a displaying unit to display a message inquiring auser whether to extend the license, wherein the instruction to extendthe license is received in response to the displayed message.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 15, further comprising a determination unit todetermine whether a license of a particular content has expired, whereinthe determination unit determines whether the license of the particularcontent has expired when the receiving unit receives a signal forselecting the content, and the displaying unit selectively displays themessage based on the determination by the determination unit.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the displaying unit further displays amessage displaying the payment data and an extendable term of thelicense, where the term is calculated based on an available balance ofthe payment data.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the displayingunit further displays a message displaying the updated results of thelicense and the payment data.
 19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein thedata managing apparatus stores a second license and second payment data,which are the license and the payment data prior to the update in theportable multimedia device, and which are updated by extending thelicense or depositing payment via the data managing apparatus, and thedata synchronizing unit comprises: a data transmitting unit to transmitthe updated license and payment data to the data managing apparatus; adata receiving unit to receive a third license and a third payment data,generated using the result of comparing the updated license and theupdated payment data to the updated second license and the updatedsecond payment data; and a data renewing unit to replace the updatedlicense and the updated payment data in the portable multimedia devicewith the third license and the third payment data.
 20. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the data managing apparatus manages the updatedlicense and the payment data in synchronization with a serveradministering the licenses and the payment data.
 21. A computer readablerecording medium having recorded thereon a computer program instructionsto execute the method of claim
 1. 22. A method of extending a license toallow reproduction of a content stored in a portable multimedia deviceusing a license extender in the portable multimedia device, the licenseextender containing the license and a balance information, the methodcomprising: receiving an instruction to extend the license; determininghow the license is to be extended and a cost of an extension of thelicense based on the received instruction; extending the license basedon the received instruction; and updating the license and balanceinformation of the license extender according to extension of thelicense and the cost of the extension of the license.
 23. The method ofclaim 22, further comprising synchronizing the license and the balanceinformation with that of another license and/or another balanceinformation in a data manager, the data manager being external to thelicense extender and the portable multimedia device.
 24. The method ofclaim 22, further comprising forwarding the license and the balanceinformation to a server that provided an original license.
 25. Aportable multimedia device to reproduce a content based on a license toallow reproduction of the content, the portable multimedia devicecomprising: a memory to store the content; and a license extendercontaining the license and a balance information, and to extend thelicense by receiving an instruction to extend the license, determininghow the license is to be extended and a cost of an extension of thelicense based on the received instruction, extending the license basedon the received instruction, and updating the license and balanceinformation of the license extender according to extension of thelicense and the cost of the extension of the license.